Apparel belt



Nov. 15, 1938., KRANTZ I 2,136,796

APPAREL BELT Filed Jan. 6, 1957 INVENTOR. liaqfi wnzfg, BY

ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 15, 1938 v a A 2 135,795

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPAREL BELT Louis Krantz, New York, N. Y.Application January o, 1937, Serial No. 119,205 2 Claims. (01. 241-8)This invention relates to improvements in apo nc s y r i s ch s e h nefi o w ere parel belts; and the invention has reference, the body ove ets are mere Violent or are of more particularly, to that type of apparelb lt such character as to tend to elongatethe body which is constructedto permit of a compensating t nearly t0 the limit of its elastieityyreason elastic stretch adapted to accommodate the same of this, theelastic y body section is e to bodily movements of the wearer.efficiently resistant to weer, While t t Same An apparel belt. whichencircles the waist of time it is nevertheless sufiiciently responsiveto the wearer must be fitted tightly enough to preo ry bodily movementsa to readily mvent sagging or slipping off of the garment to m d theretoa all times- 10 which it is applied for supporting effect, and itsAnother object of this invention is to provide 10 adjustment must besuch that it maxi a novel constructionof apparel belt comprisingtightness accommodates the am to a Snug fit connectible endstrap sectionand a stretchable about the waist when the wearer body i q i t bodysection of braided elastic sheathed cords of or relaxed. Under theseconditions, when bodily the kind above mentioned; Said end StrapSections movements occur, especiallythose of bending, v g buckle 1 likefastening me ns for re 15 stooping or those attendant upon walking, run-.leesebly Coupling the m together r aste n ning and similar activity, atight or snug fitting the e about the body of the wearer.

' belt of unyielding character will not readily, if An Object oftheinvention is to provide a at all, accommodate itself to such bodymoveb r other app r st u ur q r n an elastic 2o ments or to the muscularaction involved, and Section se i a longitudinally tretchable 0 as aresult much discomfort to the wearer is enb y of ed s c d. as abovementioned gendered. To avoid'these objections it has been Which,addition to its functional advantages, proposed to provide apparel beltsmade inawhole p v d o neat; p a and attractive a p aror in part ofelastic or stretchable material, but once a p to ce t e Va ue of thebelt belts of such elastic character have not heretoother tr u e a t e eof apparel. 25

' fore given entire satisfaction, since the character other Objects ofthis invention, t a th s and construction of the'elastic materialemployed i e? mo part u r y um rated. will be therein would. soon. wearand lose its elasticity or u rs o f e following detailed r pthe power torecover normal initial condition tiOIl 0f the Same- 3,0 afterstretching. In most cases there was little An illustrative embodiment ofthis invention is resistance to stretch of the elastic material be-Shown in ea mp nying d wing, in whichy-ond its elastic limit, andconsequently more or 1 s a a p w of an pp r belt less rapid impairmentand deterioration thereof m de acco d n t the principles of thisinvenensued. 7 tion; Fig. 2 is a side edge elevation ofthe same;

;, This invention has for its principal object to d 3 s a detailcross-sectional v w. t k provide a construction of apparel belt having ne n but drawn On an enlargeda novel longitudinally elastic body or bodysece Je-- ,1, tion made of a plurality of elastic cords having Similarcharacters of reference are employed in external sheaths of woventextile fabric; said heahov descr b d 0 d a e p sheathed cords beingintertwined together by e p sl v braiding or plaiting the same, orselected groups r ng t the w the e e ce thereof, to thereby produce abody of braided character l0 indicates one strap end portion offormation. In such construction and formation the belt and lithe otherstrap end portion thereof. of elastic body, the interengaging bights ofthe These strap d portions y be ad f any .1 braided or plaited elasticcord frictionally contact suitable pliant but non-stretchable material,such 45 one with another, and, when the body is sube. g. as natural orartificial leather, woven textile mitted to longitudinal stretch, thebraided or fabric, or the like. One strap end portion, as [0, plaitedcords tend to crowd together, whereby an is provided with a buckle l2connected with its effective resistance to stretch is increasingly setfree end. This buckle may be of any suitable up which becamesproportionally greater as the mechanical construction adapted to receiveand limit of elasticity is approached. By reason of engage, inreleasable coupled connection, the this, the novel elastic body, or bodysection, is other strap end portion ll. Illustrative of one sensitivelyresponsive to initial stretching effect form of buckle which may beemployed, I have under bodily movements of the wearer accomshown thesame to comprise a buckle of the panying normal activities, butnevertheless tends harness type provided with a pivoted tongue or 55stretchable character.

prong l3 adapted to selectively engage through perforations I4 withwhich the strap end portion II is provided. Said strap end portion I0 isprovided with the usual transverse loops l5 to receive and hold in fiatlying position the free end part of strap end portion II, when thelatter is coupled to strap end portion II] by means of the buckle l2.

Arranged between the strap end portions l0|l is a body section of novelelastic or longitudinally This body section is produced from elasticcords N5 of rubber, which are each covered or sheathed in a tubularbraided or; woven covering I! of textile material (see Fig. 3 moreparticularly). The sheathed elastic cords are intertwined and woventogether by braiding or plaiting the same, to thus produce an elasticbody section A of a width substantially corresponding to the widths ofthe strap and portions l0-| I, between which said body section extends.The'sheathed elastic cords maybe braided singly or in multiples, i. e.,in groups of selected number thereof. For example, as shown in thedrawing, the sheathed cords are divided into groups of two each, andthese groups arethen braided or plaited together. When braided orplaited to' gether, the sheathed elastic cords are cri -s's-g crossedand interwoven back andforth to extend over and under one another, thusobtaining a snubbed and frictional mutual engagement one with another atclose intervals throughout the extent of the body section A formedthereby. Owing to this cross-crossed and snubbed frictional relation ofthe sheathed cords one to another, when the body section is submitted toelastic stretch, it will at first readily respond or yield to stretchingeffects, but as the stretching effect continues, with consequentprogressive elongation of said body section, the mutually engaged bightsof the interwoven sheathedcords will tend to crowd together, both inthe'dlrection of the width as well as in the direction of the thicknessof the body section. Such crowding together will progressively increasethe intensity of frictional engagement of the sheathed cordswithcbnsequent progressively increasing resistance to stretch. By such action anytendency of the body section to stretch beyond a reasonable elasticlimit is quickly oifset or arrested, and consequently theelasticcfiiciency or liveliness of the rubber constituent of the bodysection is conserved, and undue and rapid wear and tear ofthe bodysection in use is prevented.

The body section A is fixedly coupled by its ends to the adjoined endsof the strap end portions I 0-II by means of metalcoupling clipsB whichsurround, embrace and firmly clamp the adjoined ends of these parts, andthus couple said strap end portions and body section in a con-, tinuousunitary belt structure.

In addition to the described functional characteristics of the novelbelt body section, it will be obvious that the same provides a verypleasing appearance calculated to enhance the eye appeal of the belt asa whole.

While I have described and desire to claim the novel elastic bodysection as incorporated in and constituting a functional part of anapparel belt structure, it will be apparent that the novel elastic bodysection per se is also adapted for use in other types of apparelsupports, such as garters, suspenders, etc.

I am aware that some changes could be made in the above describedstructures, and that apparently widely different embodiments of thisinvention could be made without departing from the scope thereof. It istherefore intended that all matter contained in the above description orshown in. the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrativeand not in a limiting sense.-

I claim:

1 An apparel belt, comprising non-stretchable strap end portions and anintermediate longitudinally stretchable body section, means to aifixsaid strap end portions in connected end to end relation to said bodysection, said body section being composed solely of a plurality ofelastic rubber cords, each cord being enclosed in a tubular braidedfabric sheath, said sheathed cords being arranged in strands composed ofa plurality of contiguous cords and said strands being interwoven into abraided formation with the mutually engaged cross nights of said strandsdisposed in frictional contact and adapted to crowd together withincreasing resistance to stretch as'the body section eiongates towardthe limit of its elasticity, and means to releasably couple the freeextremities of said strap end portions in joined relation.

'2'. An apparel belt, comprising non-stretchable strap end portions andan intermediate longitudinally stretchable body section, means to affixsaid strap end portions in connected end to end relation to said bodysection, said body section being composed solely of a plurality ofelastic rubber cords, each cord being enclosed in a tubular braidedfabric sheath, said sheathed cords being disposed in multiple groups toform strands, said strands thereof being interwoven in criss-Crossrelation into a braided formation with mutually engaged cross bights infrictional contact and adapted to crowd together in both the directionsof width and of thickness of the body section so as to offer increasingresistance to stretch as said body section elongates toward the limit ofits elasticity, and means to releasably couple the free extremities ofsaid strap end portions in joined relation.

' LOUIS KRANTZ.

